The Raven Flame [The Crown Saga III] (First Draft)

Dancing Water Spirit

I barely caught myself as I stumbled over a crack in the dry land. I pulled myself back up and forced my feet to continue moving past the ache tearing through my muscles.

Piper was waiting for me. Near the water by the other end of the cave, Art had said.

My lungs burned from the searing air, sweat pouring down my face. The two fire dragons atop the closest dune stared at me, narrow-eyed and teeth bared.

They did not look happy with me, which was reasonable given that I'd trespassed upon their territory without permission. "Sorry," I thought, hoping it would reach them. "Just passing through."

Smoke leaked from their flaring nostrils, their split tongues licking their pointed fangs. Prickles spread across my chest, fear licking down my spine as the scent of cinders stung my nose and another wave of heat hit my back.

I didn't catch fire, so I assumed that little trick was a threat to get out while I still had skin left to char.

They weren't the first grumpy dragons I'd come across in the past hour as I'd been sprinting through the cave, but I wasn't about to challenge them—that would be suicide.

Humid air furled around me, beads clinging to my skin as if the air itself was trying to drown me.

I despised these thick, clammy forest sections. I'd encountered four of them already. They were worse than the blazing deserts.

Another roar made the air rumble as a Feather Wing took to the sky right beside me. Droplets of water sprayed from its white-tipped wings, showering me in cold rain.

I relished the water running down my back, cooling me. The relief was only momentary before the clammy air swaddled me again, but it had been invigorating.

My muscles devoured the new energy and burned it like coal. I sprinted faster.

Half a mountain and a few deserts later, I finally beheld a sight as grand as the Wandering Mountains.

Azure ripples lapped softly against the entire right side of the cave wall, stretching at least a mile. The left wall was a fortress of ice, spanning to the ceiling and uniting water and land across the shore. Dragons of all wing types and shades of blue filled the area, resting atop frosted ice islands or dipping beneath the serene surface to the depths below.

A blast of chilled air scurried across my body, basking my loosened hair everywhere. I shivered at the sudden drop in temperature.

Piper stood in the middle of the water, gracefully moving on top of a frozen island. The water around her sloshed as she shifted as if following her maneuvers.

She looked so at ease in her element—like a spirit born of the water.

I almost didn't want to spoil her trance, but something was going on with her, and I wouldn't be much of a friend if I ignored that.

"Piper!" I shouted, waving my hand in the air.

She stopped dancing and looked around, confused.

"Up here!" I raised both hands above my head, waving them like a maniac trying to catch her attention.

Her eyes finally lit up at the sight of me, and I jumped down from the rock, sliding down the hill of sand until I stood at the foot of the shore.

Piper inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the salty air as if she intended to jump head-first into the icy waters.

My throat constricted when he suddenly leaped off the safety of her little island. I prepared myself to see her disappear into those cruel depths, but the water didn't take her.